DALTON, Ga. – Spending one day a year giving back is a small price to pay to honor a man who dedicated his life to serving others, Nicole Densmore says.
That’s why on Monday, she and about eight other volunteers raked leaves from the front and back yard of a house on Orman Street as part of a Day of Service for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“If we can get out there and serve just one day out of the whole year, it kind of shows everybody that his work is still being done,” said Ms. Densmore.
Each year on Martin Luther King Day, United Way of Northwest Georgia partners with the Dalton Parks and Recreation Department to “offer activities and service opportunities for people in Whitfield and Murray County,” said Andrea Dobbins, manager of the United Way volunteer center.
The goal is to make “it a day on, not a day off,” she said.
Ms. Dobbins said volunteers cleaned up about five yards belonging to elderly residents. They also hosted a multicultural craft fair at the Dalton Recreation Center on Civic Drive, where children could create items representing different parts of the world, such as a Guatemalan doll and a Persian tote bag.
Kyle Coffey, United Way AmeriCorps program supervisor, said the volunteer event has grown since it began four years ago. More than 160 volunteers had signed to serve in by lunchtime on Monday, he said.
Ms. Dobbins said the event brings “all kinds of people together.”
Mr. Coffey said it’s a chance to celebrate the community’s diversity.
“I think we should at least devote one day of the year to forgetting our differences and realizing that we’re all just human,” he said.
Alejandro Suarez, a 15-year-old Dalton High School student and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps member, said he and several other ROTC members volunteered Monday so they weren’t just taking the day to reflect on Martin Luther King Jr., “but to do something on that day.”
Audrey Williams, a board member with United Way, said she was pleased to see many young people volunteering.
“They could have been anywhere, but they chose to do this,” she said.
OTHER MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY EVENTS
* The annual Martin Luther King Jr. Talent Show was held Saturday night at Dalton High School.
* The Rev. Harold Middlebrook, among those with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was assassinated in Memphis, spoke during an ecumenical service on Sunday at Shiloh Baptist Church on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
* A wreath-laying ceremony was held Monday morning at the monument for Martin Luther King Jr., located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Walnut Avenue. About 50 residents marched from the Bank of Dalton to the monument that morning.
* A breakfast was held Monday morning after the ceremony at the Willis Funeral Home community room on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Source: Tom Pinson, director of the Dalton Community Center
